'Tales From the Fast Trains'

The premise of this book is simple, just jump on a Eurostar train at St Pancras and head off into a lovely city for a weekend break.  Great idea but not so easy if you are in Inverness or Blackpool.  It is also difficult if you have less cash than writers living the London high life.  Another difficulty is Brexit.  Since the book arrived in 2011 things re crossing borders have changed, travel now has hold ups not imagined at the time this book was written.

I already have 'Ticket to Ride' and 'From Source to Sea,' two of the authors other books, both of which were an enjoyable read, so I thought I would attempt this one also.  There was one slight flaw here.  A travel book is about travel, the places visited, and the peoples met.  Good writers, and Tom Chesshyre is a good travel writer, and his writing in this book when describing the places and people visited is indeed good.  However, on this journey he is accompanied by a female referred to at all times as 'E.'

This is where the book falls down.

Instead of travel writing this is a blog for family and friends about the couples weekends.  Weekends in which visiting places and describing the area in a manner which takes the reader into those places is replaced with a quest to see how many references to wine bars and their contents can be found.  Half the book, and I only got half way before I gave up, concerns wine bars and alcohol in various countries, the wine, beer and spirit being alongside details of her problems being more important than the city around them.  Travel brings problems but do we need to know all the minor ones we at home are already suffering ourselves?  

Paris, Lille, Dijon, Lausanne and Antwerp are alcoholic stops for the couple.  Now I confess little interest in visiting any of these places, and the writing does not inspire me, especially as if I were to follow the couple around my liver would need replacing by the time I returned.  In themselves some of the destinations may be worthwhile for a weekend or longer, however, I wonder about those who appear to notice the surroundings via bleary eyes.  I can remove my glasses and get similar pictures and save money.  

I confess I gave up in Lausanne.  His 'E,' may have been impressed by the despotic cleanliness, the views over the lake, and the expensive room, but her contribution lessened the effect of his writing.  It was possible to carry her long with him and stick to describing the places, instead he had to include 'E' in everything.  Very romantic, but poor journalism.  

Next time, I suggest he throws his baggage in the car, and drops her off at her mothers.

I do not recommend this book, but his others are worth a look.

Ticket to Ride

This is a good book.  

Published in 2016, Tom Chesshyre road the rail in 2013/14, so it is slightly dated.  Non the worse for that.  It is understandable that situations have changed somewhat in some of the countries Ton

m has travelled through.  And what countries, what trains!  

Written from the point of view of someone who likes trains without becoming an anorak train enthusiast, Tom travels through China, India, USA and Russia amongst others places.  Detailing the trips, the people, the country that he meets on board and sees through the window.  

The fact that he has put so many trips into the book means each trip could have been a single book in itself, though I suspect his run in with a mutinous bunch of Aussies who rebelled against him he probably does not wish to cover again.  

His writing style is good.  We are there listening to the Chinese coughing loudly, we see the red soil of Australia fade into the distance, we note the differing attitudes of guards, both at the borders and on the trains.  The North Korean guards are not what I expected, the drugged up lout in New York was. 

In most nations Tom comes across ano rail enthusiasts.  Those who travel on every line, ensuring all they see, trains, coaches, signals, stations, drivers are photographed, and those who just like travelling by train.

On such trips people open up about themselves and life in general.  By avoiding controversy guides can become quite friendly and open in even the most 'locked in' nation.  Train travel, especially on long journeys, does tend to loosen the passengers, drink also helps.  Speaking to a stranger, often about their private life, is possible for some, especially when you will never meet again.  Something about train travel relaxes people, the smooth ride possible on most lines today, the sights from the train, green verdant land, streams, seas, mountains, all calm the mind.  

Of course there is the other type.  The drunk, the lout, the man or woman on the phone sharing their work or private life with one and all.  Surely murder is not wrong in such situations?  The staff, sometimes happy, sometimes grumpy, depending on where you are and how they have been treated.

'Ticket to Ride' offers all this.  It was a book I found hard to put down.  Also, the trips being separated means this book need not be read in one go, each chapter a differing delight.  The descriptions of the train delights the anor fan, the hope to be there one day delights me.  

I recommend this book, both as a 'railway' book and as a travel book.  

Tom Chesshyre

I've just realised I have read one of his before.  'From Source to Sea.'  A walk from the source of the Thames to the sea.